Mechanical coupling



y 1932- L. DE MONTGRAND 1 865559 MECHANICAL COUPLING Filed Jan. '30,1951 retested July s, 1932.

1 NITED STATES LEON ml. MONTGBAND, OI momma, FRANCE MECHANICAL COUPLINGApplication filed January 80, 1981, Serial No. 512,462, and In FranceIebruary 21, 1980.

The purpose of the present invention is to construct a couplingmechanism capable of automatically balancing at each instant a drivingtorque .and its resisting torque by means of any mechanism based uponthe new theorem, which is stated in what follows.

In order that this statement may be clearly understood reference is made'to Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing, which shows diagrammatically anelementary mechanism constituted by a cam C having the shape of anisosceles right-angled triangle of infinite dimensions and constrainedto slide upon a horizontal lane without friction and paral- 16 lel toitself on one of its equal sides acting as base and being acted upon atits lower acute angle by a driving force M also horizontal, which tendsto draw it on the side opposite to the right-angle; and by a body Gattached ing force, the driving work is always equal 80 to the resistingwork. If I be the distance passed through, this may be written .If theslope of the inclined plane be decreased,the theorem remains trueprovided that the .vertical force Po be multiplied by the ratio of thelarge to the small side of the ri ht angle.

e accompanying drawing shows an example of construction of a balancingdevice the operation of which is based upon the preceding theorem andwhich serves to couple to ther a driving shaft and a driven shaft.

i i .2 isa cross section of the mechanism, whic will be calledbalancerand Fig. 3 is an axial section.

In this mechanism the driving and the resisting forces become drivin andresisting torques, since they are exerts upon a drivmg shaft and upon adriven shaft. The horizontal plane and the infinite cam are replaced bya wheel rim 1 with internal cams 2, keyed upon the driving shaft 3 anddriven by it. The body G is replaced by shoes 4 pivoted at 5 upon aplate 6 keyed upon the driven shaft 7, which latter is in line with thedriving shaft 3. The whole of the shoes are inside the cam rim and inthe same plane.

An even number of cams arranged equidistant from each other are used.The shoes, which also are of even number, operate always atleast two ata time and at the ends of one and the same diameter.

The cams and shoes are provided in such number that one pair of shoesreaches the end of the slopes of one pair of cams at the instant whenanother pair of shoes comes into contact with the slopes of another pairof cams, thus realizing practically the infinite cam of the theorem. Forthis purpose in the case in which a single cam rim would beinsufiicient, a suflioient number of cams may be provided by placing bythe side of the original cam rim one or more other cam rims suitablystaggered, wherein one or more other sets of shoes lacedside by sideoperate as shown in the gures.

Finally the force P0 is produced part1 by springs 8 and partly by thecentrifugal fbrce to which the shoes are subjected.

The example given is applicable to a selfpropelled vehicle. It ishowever to be clearly understood that the example described above has nolimiting character and that modifications can be used provided that theyare based upon the theorem described without exceeding the scope of theinvention.

For example the two members of the cou- 9d pling may be interchanged,that is to say, a small drum provided with cams may be keyed upon thedriving shaft and rotate inside a rim provided with shoes attached tothe driven shaft or the cams maybe attached upon the back flat face, andnot upon the rim, of a plate attached to the driving shaft, whilst theshoes would be pivoted upon another plate keyed upon the driven shaft.

In these 111 and in any other based upon the same theorem, the principlewould remain the same.

The balancer may be employed as such, for example in a selfropelledvehicle, but may be also employed or different purposes, for example asspeed reducing gear, as resilient drive and the like.

Whatever may be the construction adopted, the operation remains the sameand may be 10 described as follows.

1. If the drivin torque and the resisting torque are equal t e shoesmaintain a fixed position upon their cams; The driven shaft rotates atthe same speed as the driving shaft.

15 2. If the resisting torque be greater than the driving torque, therewill be slipping of the shoes, which successively mount the cams in therim, and thus the speed of the driven shaft will be decreased. In thiscase the go torque transmitted to the driven shaft is equal to thedriving torque multiplied by the ratio of driven torque to drivingtorque.

3. If the resisting torque be infinite, the driven shaft remains atrest. The whole of 35 the driving torque is expended in causing theshoes to ride up on their cams and the torque transmitted by reaction tothe driven shaft is enormous.

This mechanism therefore has nothin in n so common with a slippingclutch, it is in eed the reverse of such since in this latter the torquetransmitted is equal to the driving torque less the quantity of energylost by being l converted into heat by friction in the 86 clutc Y Iclaim:

A coupling mechanism for balancing automatically a driving torque and aresisting torque comprising a rotatable driving drum 0 provided withinterior cams of the same direction, a driven drum rotatable within theinterior of the driving drum, centrifugally actin weighted shoespivotally mounted on the riven drum for cooperating with the 5 cams andsprings actin on said shoes, the weights of said s Oes an the tension ofsaid springs bein so determined that the disp acement o the driven drumis inversely proportional to the resisting torquefor a 50 same drivingtorque.

In testimony whereof he has signed this specification. a

LEON or. MONTGRAND.

